Using harmonic beam combining to generate pulse-burst in nonlinear optical laser

The ultrashort lasers working in pulse-burst mode reveal great machining performance in recent years. The number of pulses in bursts effects greatly on the removal rate and roughness. To generate a more equal amplitude of pulses in burst with linear polarization output and time gap adjustable, we propose a new method by the harmonic beam combining(HBC).The beam combining is commonly used in adding pulses into the output beam while maintaining the pulse waveform and beam quality. In the HBC, dichroic mirrors are used to combine laser pulses of fundamental wave(FW) into harmonic wave(HW), and nonlinear crystals are used to convert the FW into HW. Therefore, HBC can add arbitrarily more HW pulses to generate pulse-burst in linear polarization with simple structure. The amplitude of each pulse in bursts can be adjusted the same to increase the stability of the burst, the time gap of each pulse can be adjusted precisely by proper time delay. Because HBC adds pulses sequentially, the peak power density of the burst is the same as each pulse, pulses can be combined without concern of back-conversion which often occurs in high peak power density. In the demonstration, the extendibility of HBC was verified by combining two beams with a third beam. The combined efficiency rates were larger than 99%, and the beam quality of each beam was maintained at M^(2)≈1.4.

Terahertz shaping technology based on coherent beam combining

The generation of terahertz(THz) waves by focusing a femtosecond pulsed laser beam at a distance is able to overcome the strong absorption properties of air and has rapidly attracted the attention of industry. However, the poor directionality of the THz wave radiation generated by this method is not conducive to THz wave applications. By controlling the morphology of the ultrafast laser-excited plasma filament and its electron density distribution through coherent beam combining technology, we achieve direct THz beam shaping and are able to obtain THz wave radiation of Gaussian or arbitrary transverse distribution. The novel experimental approach proposed in this paper opens up the research field of direct THz wave shaping using plasma. Moreover, it innovates multi-parameter convergence algorithms and, by doing so, has the potential to find beam patterns with higher energy conversion efficiency and break the energy limit of THz waves emitted by lasers at high power.

Coherent beam combination of adaptive fiber laser array with tilt-tip and phase-locking control

We present an experimental study on tilt-tip（TT） and phase-locking（PL） control in a coherent beam combination（CBC） system of adaptive fiber laser array.The TT control is performed using the adaptive fiber-optics collimator（AFOC）,and the PL control is realized by the phase modulator（PM）.Cascaded and simultaneous controls of TT and PL using stochastic parallel gradient descent（SPGD） algorithm are investigated in this paper.Two-fiber-laser-,four-fiber-laser-,and six-fiber-laser-arrays are employed to study the TT and PL control.In the cascaded control system,only one high-speed CMOS camera is used to collect beam data and a computer is used as the controller.In a simultaneous control system one high-speed CMOS camera and one photonic detector（PD） are employed,and a computer and a control circuit based on field programmable gate array（FPGA） are used as the controllers.Experimental results reveal that both cascaded and simultaneous controls of TT using AFOC and PL using PM in fiber laser array are feasible and effective.Cascaded control is more effective in static control situation and simultaneous control can be applied to the dynamic control system directly.The control signals of simultaneous PL and TT disturb each other obviously and TT and PL control may compete with each other,so the control effect is limited.

Propagation properties of off-axis Hermite-cosh-Gaussian beam combinations through a first-order optical system

Based on the Collins integral formula, the analytic expressions of propagation of the coherent and the incoherent off-axis Hermite-cosh-Gaussian （HChG） beam combinations with rectangular symmetry passing through a paraxial first-order optical system are derived, and corresponding numerical examples are given and analysed. The resulting beam quality is discussed in terms of power in the bucket （PIB）. The study suggests that the resulting beam cannot keep the initial intensity shape during the propagation and the beam quality for coherent mode is not always better than that for incoherent mode. Reviewing the numerical simulations of Gaussian, Hermite-Gaussian （HG） and cosh- Gaussian （ChG） beam combinations indicates that the Hermite polynomial exerts a chief influence on the irradiance profile of composite beam and far field power concentration.

Comparative study on the power scaling performance of three different coherent polarization beam combination system structures

Coherent polarization beam combination （CPBC） is a new kind of coherent beam combination configuration with high combining efficiency and excellent beam quality. In order to extend the CPBC system to a large scale, we provide a comparative study on the power scaling performance of three different coherent polarization beam combination system structures. It is found that the pairwise structure has high tolerance to aberrations and has the potential to extend to a large scale with high combining efficiency. In consideration of all the aberrations, the combining efficiency of the pairwise structure can be attained as high as 90% when the combined beams are more than 200. Some instructive suggestions are given to extend the CPBC system to a large scale.

Incoherent and coherent beam combination for master oscillator/power amplifier system with stimulated Brillouin scattering mirror

In this paper, we studied incoherent and coherent beam combining for the master oscillator/power amplifier （MOPA） system with stimulated Brillouin scattering （SBS） mirror. Optic field intensity distributions in the near and far field are numerically calculated for the two kinds of system. The results show that good beam quality in the far field could be obtained. It provides a theoretical basis for experimental research in the future.

Fully Immersing Water-Cooled Radial Slab Laser and its Incoherent Beam Combination

A novel scheme of fully immersing water cooling is proposed for a Nd：glass radial slab laser. The slab medium is entirely immersed in the circulating water Ailing the pumping cavity, which enables much lower temperature and reasonably smaller thermal gradient in the slab medium. The radial slab is symmetrically and synchronously pumped by eight flash lamps, and produces multi-output beams with a total energy of 469md. Incoherent beam combination property of the multi-output beams is also investigated. The approach suggested here provides a way of scaling the slab lasers to much higher output levels and also a convenience for beam combinations.

Impact of atmospheric turbulence on coherent beam combining for laser weapon systems

The performance of a laser weapon system based on coherent beam combining(CBC)depends on its propagation properties in the atmosphere.In this study,an analytical model based on partial coherent beam combining(PCBC)for assumed coherence coefficients between beams in a CBC lattice was developed.The Kolmogorov model of atmospheric turbulence and the Hufnagel-Valley model of C^(2)_(n) dependence on atmospheric parameters were implemented.Novel simplified metrics were proposed to assess the CBC performance.Several beam profiles(super-Gaussian,truncated Gaussian,etc.)and geometries were analyzed in terms of maximal intensity in the far field.An approximate formula for PCBC efficiency dependent on the Fried radius was proposed.The results of CBC modeling were compared to those of the Gaussian beam propagation model in a turbulent atmosphere.The dependence of CBC performance on the C^(2)_(n) parameter,range,and elevation angle was analyzed.It could be concluded that the application of CBC for medium and long range propagation is impractical without an effective adaptive optics system.

Spectral Beam Combining of Fiber Lasers by Using Reflecting Volume Bragg Gratings

By employing three reflecting volume Bragg gratings, a near-infrared 4-channel spectral-beam-combining system is demonstrated to present 720 W combined power with a combining efficiency of 94.7%. The combined laser beam is near-diffraction-limited with a beam factor M^2-1.54. During this 4-channel beam-combining process, no special active cooling measures are used to evaluate the volume Bragg gratings as combining elements are under the higher power laser operation. Thermal expansion and period distortion are verified in a 2 k W 2-channel beam-combining process, and the heat issue in the transmission case is found to be more remarkable than that in the diffraction e-se. Transmitted and diffracted beams experience wave-front aberrations with different degrees, thus leading to distinct beam deterioration.

Tiled-aperture coherent beam combining of two high-power fibre amplifiers

We demonstrate coherent beam combining of two tiled-aperture single-frequency fibre amplifiers with a total output power of 29.65 W by using the multi-dithering technique. The two laser beams are packaged closely by using free-space mirrors side by side into a tiled-aperture with a near-field fill factor of 62%. Active phase control of the amplifier is performed on commercially available digital lock-in amplifiers. Experimental results show that the power contained in the main-lobe in closed-loop is 1.72 times greater than that in open-loop, which is 86% for the ideal case. The fringe contrast of the far-field fringe pattern is as high as 80% when the system is in closed-loop. The beam quality of the combined beam is computed to he BQ = 1.48. The whole system in closed-loop performs well in a long-time observation.

Size selectivity of combined square and diamond mesh codends of shrimp beam trawl for banded scad Caranx(Atule)kalla in the northern South China Sea

The shrimp beam trawl fishery in the northern South China Sea is characterized by high by-catch and poor selectivity problems.Among by-catch species,banded scad(Caranx(Atule)kalla)is economically the most important one.The aim of this study is to improve the selective properties of codends for banded scad.Size selectivity of 2 traditional diamond mesh codends,with mesh size 25 and 30 mm(defined as D25 and D30,respectively),and 4 new combined square and diamond mesh codends,with25 mm square-mesh and 25 mm diamond-mesh(S25+D25),30 mm square-mesh and 25 mm diamondmesh(S30+D25),35 mm square-mesh and 25 mm diamond-mesh(S35+D25),and 35 mm square-mesh and18 mm diamond-mesh(S35+D18),were tested for banded scad in shrimp beam trawl fishery of the South China Sea.A total of 54 valid hauls were finished using the covered codend method,and 5750 banded scad were caught.Selective parameters were obtained using the logistic equation with the maximum likelihood method,by incorporating the between-haul variation.The results show that the present minimum mesh size for shrimp beam trawl in the South China Sea,25-mm diamond mesh size,is insufficient to release immature banded scad.The S35+D25 codend is proved to be the most eff ective codend to release immature banded scad,and its 50%retention length(L _(50))is larger than the minimum landing size(MLS=63.5 mm)of banded scad.However,the 95%confidence intervals of L _(50) overlap among the three combined mesh codends,the S25+D25,S30+D25 and S35+D25 codend.For a sustainable exploitation of banded scad,larger mesh sizes are suggested to be investigated for the combined mesh codends.

The 260-W coherent beam combining of two compact fibre amplifier chains

Coherent beam combining of two fibre amplifier chains with a total power of 260 W in a compact system using the stochastic parallel gradient descent （SPGD） algorithm is demonstrated. A 150 MHz linewidth fibre laser is built and introduced for high-power amplification to mitigate stimulated Brillouin scattering （SBS）. Compact high-power amplifier chains are built with low power all-fibre system and high-power bulk free-optics fibre amplifiers. When the total power is about 260 W, active phase-locking of two high-power amplifiers is demonstrated using the SPGD algorithm. In closed-loop, the power in the main lobe increases 1.68 times, the visibility is increased from 0 to 0.62, and the phase residual error is less than λ/10.

High Power Pulse Laser Reflection Sequence Combination with a Fast Steering Mirror

We propose and demonstrate a new approach for a high power pulse laser reflection sequence combination with a fast steering mirror(FSM). This approach possesses significant advantages for lasers combining with a variety of output power, wavelength, pulse duration, repetition rates and polarization. The maximum number of laser routes participating in combination principally depends on the FSM’s adjustment time of the step response, lasers’ repetition rates and pulse duration. A proof-of-principle experiment is performed with two 2-kW level pulsed beams. The results indicate that the combined beam has an excellent pointing stability with rms pointing jitter^8.5μrad. Meanwhile, a high combining efficiency of 98.6% is achieved with maintaining good beam quality.

Numerical and experimental study on coherent beam combining of fibre amplifiers using simulated annealing algorithm

We present the numerical and experimental study on the coherent beam combining of fibre amplifiers by means of simulated annealing （SA） algorithm. The feasibility is validated by the Monte Carlo simulation of correcting static phase distortion using SA algorithm. The performance of SA algorithm under time-varying phase noise is numerically studied by dynamic simulation. It is revealed that the influence of phase noise on the performance of SA algorithm gets stronger with an increase in amplitude or frequency of phase noise; and the laser array that contains more lasers will be more affected from phase noise. The performance of SA algorithm for coherent beam combining is also compared with a widely used stochastic optimization algorithm, i.e., the stochastic parallel gradient descent （SPGD） algorithm. In a proof-of-concept experiment we demonstrate the coherent beam combining of two 1083~nm fibre amplifiers with a total output power of 12~W and 93% combining efficiency. The contrast of the far-field coherently combined beam profiles is calculated to be as high as 95%.

Multi-wavelength laser active coherent combination

A seed laser oscillating at different frequencies is proved to have the potential to mitigate the stimulated Brillouin scattering（SBS） effect in a fiber amplifier,which may increase the emission power of a coherent beam combination（CBC） system greatly.In this study,a basic mathematical model describing the multi-wavelength CBC is proposed on the fundamentals of CBC.A useful method for estimating the combination effect and analysing the feasibility and the validity of the multi-wavelength coherent combination is provided.In the numerical analysis,accordant results with four-wavelength four-channel CBC experiments are obtained.Through calculations of some examples with certain spectra,the unanticipated excellent combination effect with a few frequencies involved is explained,and the dependence of the combination effect on the variance of the amplifier chain length and the channel number is clarified.

STUDY OF GYROMONOTRON WITH A COMBINING PERIODIC MAGNETIC FIELD AND A COAXIAL CYCLOTRON ELECTRON BEAM

On the basis of a work of Wu Jianqiang et al.(1987),by making use of the linear kinetictheory,the gyromonotron with a combining periodic magnetic field and a coaxial cyclotron electron beam hasbeen analysed in detail.And the formulas of the electron beam to wave interaction power,frequency shift andstarting current,etc.have been derived.

Coherent beam combining of hybrid phase control in master oscillator-power amplifier configuration

A novel scalable architecture for coherent beam combining with hybrid phase control involving passive phasing and active phasing in master oscillator-power amplifier configuration is presented. Wide-linewidth mutually injected passive phasing fibre laser arrays serve as master oscillators for the power amplifiers, and the active phasing using stochastic parallel gradient descent algorithm is induced. Wide-linewidth seed laser can suppress the stimulated Brillouin scattering effectively and improve the output power of the fibre laser amplifier, while hybrid phase control provides a robust way for in-phase mode coherent beam combining simultaneously. Experiment is performed by active phasing fibre laser amplifiers with passive phasing fibre ring laser array seed lasers. Power encircled in the main-lobe increases1.57 times and long-exposure fringe contrast is obtained to be 78% when the system evolves from passive phasing to hybrid phasing.

基于混合合束的复合激光系统

采用偏振合束与光谱合束结合的方式,实现了4种近红外激光束的空间合成,包括固体纳秒脉冲激光、高功率连续光纤激光、高重复频率纳秒脉冲光纤激光和亚毫秒(长脉冲)光纤激光。开发了仿真软件对偏振合束器、光谱合束器及各激光器的光谱特征和偏振特性等主要相关参数进行设计优化,基于仿真结果研制了由上述4种激光系统和一套偏振/光谱合束链路构成的复合激光系统。系统的合束效率可达93.9%,实现了近红外波段多种脉冲和连续激光束的共轴发射,该系统可用于研究激光与物质相互作用的合作效应。

可见光波段多路激光合束及闭环校正技术研究

为了实现可见光波段多路不同波长激光的周期性闭环校正,设计了一种具有光束指向和位置偏差独立监测与调节的激光合束系统。首先,根据系统的应用需求,提出了合束系统的设计指标与整体合束方案。然后,在合束方案的基础上,建立了合束系统的光束控制模型,并通过数值仿真得到了合束系统光束控制的解算方法。闭环合束系统通过光束指向和位置监测装置分别实现合束激光指向偏差与位置偏差的独立监测,并根据监测结果进行光束调节装置控制量的解算;进而通过两维摆镜和一维平移台分别实现光束指向和位置偏差的独立高效调节。最后,采用两路不同波长的激光束,配合光束监测与调节装置,搭建了闭环合束模拟实验平台,对周期性闭环合束系统的合束效果进行了验证。实验结果表明:在长时间的工作过程中,两路激光均实现了与基准光路的精密合束,合束指向精度优于±7μrad,位置精度优于±0.84 mm。本研究所组建的激光合束系统不仅具有合束精度高、校正速度快、光路扩展性强的优势,而且可实现激光束的周期性闭环校正,能够有效保证合束激光的长期工作稳定性。

封装工艺对半导体激光器偏振特性的影响

研究了封装工艺对半导体激光器偏振度的影响,包括封装结构、热沉材料、焊料组分、焊料厚度、烧结压力以及烧结温度等方面。通过对功率25W、波长976nm单管半导体激光器封装工艺进行优化,实现了该半导体激光器应力匹配封装,进而提高了其偏振度。研究结果表明,在金锡焊料厚度6~8μm、金锡焊料中金组分77%~79%、烧结温度320℃、烧结压力50gf(1gf=9.8mN)、预热时间10s、降温速率6℃/s等工艺条件下,该半导体激光器横电(TE)模式偏振度测试值达到97.9%~98.6%。